The 'Shelfie' is trending on Instagram: A new design spin on the ubiquitous selfie

Sherri Feltner was posting photos of her holiday decorating on Facebook for several years before the shelfie trend started. This was one of her July patriotic shelfies.

Sherri Feltner was posting photos of her holiday...

Photo by
Contributed Photo
/Times Free Press.

Rodney Simmons, owner of Revival at Warehouse Row,
combines an Italian, 18th-century, giltwood candle pricket, left, with coffee table books, Cire Trudon candles
made in France and a Bengal Bazaar pillow from Los
Angeles designer Kelly Wearstler. The pricket's name is
derived from the spike on top of the candleholder.

Rodney Simmons, owner of Revival at Warehouse Row,
combines...

Photo by
Shawn Paik
/Times Free Press.

"We have people using these boxes for personal effects,
such as a drop zone for keys, using them on the coffee
table to hold remote controls and other electronics they
want out or sight, and using them for jewelry boxes," says
Rodney Simmons. From left are woven straw boxes with
faceted agate closures, vellum boxes outlined in brass nailheads and quatrefoil-patterned boxes with bone inlays.

"We have people using these boxes for personal...

Photo by
Shawn Paik
/Times Free Press.

Rodney Simmons has been on the leading edge of the newest social media trend without knowing it.

Simmons, owner of Revival design store in Warehouse Row, frequently posts shots of small, artistically designed groupings on Instagram and Facebook to share ideas with friends. Turns out, those photos have a name: the shelfie.

The shelfie is design's spin on the selfie fad. Instead of posting pictures of yourself online, people post shots of their stuff creatively arranged on a shelf or tabletop. The idea is to give friends a peek at your personal taste instead of your person.

In its current issue, People Stylewatch calls it "a cool new riff" on the selfie. The Wall Street Journal posed this question about the shelfie: Is it a self-indulgent ego trip or a thoughtful way to show off your great taste?

Simmons says he's pretty active in social media, but wasn't familiar with the "shelfie" term. He just finds that social media is vital to interior design because "design is all about the image."

"For Revival, social media is twofold: It lets people know what's new in the store, communicates what we are doing, and beckons people into the store. Second, people interested in design all follow one another. We're all feeding one another with ideas. Pinterest tends to lean toward more do-it-yourself, whereas Instagram tends to lead people toward a retailer or resource. It's how a lot of designers are reaching people in the 21st century," Simmons explains.

The rise of the shelfie began earlier this year in Europe, its name derived from photos being posted by boasting bibliophiles about their literary collections in their bookcase shelves. In an April article, England's Daily Mail dubbed shelfies "the geek-chic social media trend to show off your book collection."

As the trend grew, the less erudite took the fad into other rooms of their homes and began posting images of creative groupings on shelving units of their kitchens, bedrooms, baths or living rooms.

Ooltewah resident Sherri Feltner is known for her holiday decorating. She's been posting shelfies to Facebook for quite some time of cute clusters of decorations or other small groupings she designs each holiday.

"I do that all the time, but I didn't know about the shelfie," she says. "I've just always taken pictures as long as I've had a Facebook account, mainly to remember what I've done in previous years. I'd say I've been documenting what I do since my first home in 1975."